ARC Adventure Race

A Return to AR at the ARC24

Greg and Denise McHale / 20.03.2016

This is a race report Tecnus team captain Greg McHale wrote up about last weekends 24-hour Adventure Race in New Zealand that he and Denise did racing as team Tecnu.

I thought I would write a race report on the ARC 24 adventure race which started in Thames New Zealand over the past weekend, as well as give the readers a more complete picture of what Denise and have been up to our last 5 weeks down here on the North Island of NZ.

We made the decision to come back to Adventure Racing last November, after 5 years away from the sport, 2 children and the purchase of a business. After much soul searching we decided we had more to contribute to the sport and had some unfinished business with it. We are fortunate enough to be in the position with the nature of our business, that with some creative time management, we are able to give it a focused and dedicated effort.

When making the decision to race again we spent a month in Utah, where Denise won the Masters US trail championships in Moab. We had brought our bikes with us as well, and quickly realized how much we had missed the dirt under our wheels. It was during this time that we spoke to Earring Doug Judson, the founder and brand manager of Team Tecnu. Over the next couple of weeks, we spent more time discussing our goals and found that Doug had a very similar outlook on the sport and his passion for the sport and the Tecnu brand were very evident. We decided to team up and began the task of putting the rest of the team together.

Our original winter holiday plans were going to take us to Argentina, where we had spent a few winters in the past. After we made the decision to return to adventure racing we figured, what better place to do a training camp than New Zealand – the home of adventure racing? With this in mind, we decided to contact a past teammate and friend - Adventure Racing legend Neil Jones. After a quick phone call, and couple emails, the plan was made, flights changed and this is where the story begins.

We rented a house in Ohope, which is about 10 minutes from the Jones family farm. We planned to spend the next 5 weeks on the North Island in the Jones’s play ground. We hit the ground running and the day after our arrival we were out for a 3 hr bike ride with Neil and his friend Austin Oliver.

Our next week consisted of full time training in all AR disciples and wrapped up with a 6hr Adventure Race put on by Neil and Austin. Our first race back after such a break and racing in the home of Adventure Racing was exciting. Denise and I raced as a 2 person team and managed to get our first win of 2016. We were excited to be racing against local hero Sam Clark and his partner a week after Sam’s amazing win at the Coast to Coast.

It was after this race that I realized why the Kiwi’s are the best Adventure Racers in the World. This 6hr race had over 200 school kids, as well as a wide range of athletes both serious and recreational partaking in the event. I was amazed at how much part of the culture that multi sport and adventure racing is. I wondered how many local kids you would get out to race if this happened in any local cities in North America.

The bug had been placed in Neil’s ear to race the ARC 24 with Denise and I along with another one of Neil’s friend Gordon Townsend, aka Flash. It wasn’t long before we were signed up and looking to head North to Thames where the race would start. The organizers have a 16 year history of putting this race on which is almost unheard of in North America, once again proving what a cultural thing AR is in NZ. The ARC has multiple categories and distances from 8hrs, 12hrs, and the premier category of the mixed 24hr race. During the race briefing I again was amazed at how many high school teams were in the event.

When the race started at 6 am, the ocean was calm when we set out in the kayaks. A 2.5 hr paddle had us out of the water in the lead. We then spent the next 5 hours running through the Coromandel bush. It was perfect for us, as we enjoy technical running terrain, ducking under trees, and running down creeks. A few interesting and unusual events also included shooting a 22 caliber rifle, and a paintball game against a couple of snipers.

The next section was a MTB rogaine which allowed the teams to divide into two groups to collect all the points. We finished this section with a solid lead moving into the final two stages - a trek and paddling rogaine. We finished the course not collecting all the paddling rogaine points, as we had only been given 3 hours to get as many as you could. The tides were not in our favour which made this leg that much more difficult.

It wasn’t until the prize giving ceremony that we realized we were in second place by 8 mins. Somewhere along the line, all the time credits were calculated and we came up short, even after finishing over an hour ahead of the next team. Overall, while disappointing to not get the win, we had a great race and felt good about the team and our performance. Denise and I needed the boost and the confidence to know that we are back and capable of being better than ever.

We have had an amazing time in this beautiful country and with the genuine people who live here. It would be tough to beat New Zealand as a training ground for multisport with their AR climate, and infrastructure making it a perfect environment. It was a pleasure to again race with our friend Neil Jones, and new friend Gordon Townsend, who is a power house of an athlete himself. We also want to thank Austin Oliver and Jo Jones for crewing for the team.

While the ARC 24 won’t go down in the books as a win, it will go down as one of the most enjoyable races we have done with two of the best guys you could race with, and a fantastic support crew. Thanks to Doug Judson, Tecnu, Ripcord, and our sponsors for believing in us, and providing the support to make our return to the sport possible. We are very excited about the team we have built and what the 2016 season looks like for us. We're very excited to be back racing again.

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